


Everlasting

by whitedandelions



Category: The Little Mermaid (1989)
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 14:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17061422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitedandelions/pseuds/whitedandelions
Summary: Ariel never intended for Eric to grow old and die.  Mermaids have a longer lifespan, after all, and it’s only fitting for her love to join her in the ocean after his human body grew old.  It’s just unfortunate that Eric had no idea until there really wasn’t much time left at all.





	Everlasting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [disney_gal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disney_gal/gifts).



> happy yuletide! super enjoyed your theme of all disney movies ^^, really hope you enjoy!

Eric’s bones are getting worse. Some days, when Ariel’s gone visiting her sisters, he can’t be bothered to get out of bed, preferring to spend the day reading one of the books Ariel left by the bedside.

But those days are fewer now, because the Kingdom needs a King, and Eric will not force his daughter to become Queen just yet.

He knows she’ll be a wonderful one. Melody used to be so unsure of herself, but after everything that happened with Morgana and their mistake of keeping her from her lineage, she had changed. Now, Eric had no worries about Melody becoming Queen.

But he still wasn’t sure if Melody wanted to be Queen. Even though she had refused to become a mermaid permanently, it didn’t mean that she wanted to stay and rule. He didn’t want to force his daughter into anything, but he also knew their Kingdom needed a strong ruler to stay in peace.

Even now, their subjects need a firm hand. Even when Eric’s body’s failing him, even when Eric doesn’t know how much longer he has left, he will still be their King as long as he can.

That’s what his father taught him.

So that’s what he’s going to do.

* * *

It’s night when Eric finally returns to the bedroom.

Ariel’s there, waiting for him. Her appearance makes him pause in the doorway, and he stares at her as she sits patiently, bathed in the moonlight from the window in the roof they had installed many years ago.

She’s as beautiful as she was back when they had first met. Her red hair is longer now, long enough to rest behind her and provide a sharp contrast to their expensive pearl-white sheets. And her eyes, they’re glowing, as if she had just been singing.

Ariel aged slower than him; a byproduct of being the daughter of Triton and being loved by the sea. He never minded it; not even when his skin became wrinkly and it became a chore to move around the castle. Sometimes, it seemed like a dream that Ariel was his, and this was just something he had learned to accept.

He doesn’t say a word as he moves further into the room, and his heart skips a beat as his wife slowly turns to look at him.

She looks ethereal. Almost otherworldy. As if he dared to blink, his wife would once again be a mermaid.

“Ariel,” he calls, his heart in his throat, and she bows her head at him, her red locks moving with her.

“Eric,” she responds, and he can feel the love in her words, even if he doesn’t understand why she looks like this in particular. She may have aged slower, but she still _aged_. Now, she looks like she’s sixteen again, and nothing makes sense.

“How’s Attina?” he asks, instead of ‘why do you look young’ and he gets a wry look in response.

“She welcomes you,” says Ariel, and she’s never sounded like this before, enough so that he looks up at her with surprise.

“What’s going on?” he asks, warily, and Ariel looks sad for a brief second.

“You’re dying.” Ariel’s voice is trembling, and Eric can’t help it, even if nothing makes sense, he needs to hold his wife and comfort her. He’s spent many long years doing so, after all, and even if his bones ache, he goes to wrap his arms around her.

She lets him, and he wonders what an odd picture they make. He holds her for what seems like only a minute, and when Ariel speaks again, her voice is no better than before. “You’ll be dead by the end of this week,” she whispers, and when he looks at her, there are tears shining in her eyes.

He’s not scared. He hasn’t been afraid of death for a long time now. “You’ll have to take care of Melody,” he says, in the calmest voice he can manage, and squeezes one of Ariel’s hands in his. “And the kingdom. They love you.”

“I can’t be Queen without you,” says Ariel.

“But Melody isn’t ready – “ he begins, and Ariel cuts him off.

“She is,” she says. “I know her. She’s _our_ daughter, Eric. She’ll be the finest Queen in our history, far better than me.”

“You were a good Queen,” he protests, but Ariel just laughs at his words, her own hand squeezing Eric back.

“Sure,” she agrees, good-naturedly, and then her face turns serious again. “I gave up my tail for you long ago. I gave up being a mermaid because I knew I wanted to be with you more. I wanted to be part of your world, Eric, and I didn’t care it meant I couldn’t be in the ocean anymore.”

“I know,” he says, softly, because they’ve had this conversation before. He’s always been grateful, and always been so so much in love with Ariel that it had only made his heart full to remember what Ariel had done for him.

“But there’s another reason,” says Ariel, “and I…we should have talked about it before, but I never had the courage. I can live for a long time, Eric. Even with my tail missing, I’m still a mermaid. I still have powers that humans cannot even begin to understand.”

“Then you’ll stay alive after I'm gone,” says Eric, his heart aching. “Even with me gone, Ariel, you have to live. You have to watch over our Melody, our Kingdom; I know you can manage. You’re so strong, love, so much stronger than you think. You don’t need me.”

“But I do,” bursts out Ariel. Her eyes are glowing even more than usual, even more than that one night so long ago. “And I won’t live without you. I _won’t_.”

“You can’t cure me,” he begins, but Ariel shakes her head.

“I won’t need to.” She stops, falling silent, and Eric doesn’t dare say a word. His wife has a temper, even aged as they both are, and he knows better than to set her off especially with her as emotional as she is now.

“Honey,” starts Ariel, and she sounds so unsure of herself, that Eric squeezes her hand to let her know he’s there for her. Always. She smiles at the gesture, and then looks him directly in the eyes. “I want you to become a merman.”

* * *

When Eric wakes up the next day, his head is pounding. It feels as if last night was a dream, and when he turns, Ariel’s there, her red hair faded and nothing like last night’s. He frowns, wondering if the dream is a sign that he isn’t ready for death, when Ariel stirs and looks up at him.

“When did you get back?” he asks, and Ariel looks confused.

“Did you forget already?” she asks, though she sounds more amused than exasperated. She sits up further, with ease unlike Eric, and with it comes the sinking realization that last night wasn’t a dream. “You didn’t take my request well,” Ariel says, her voice downcast, and Eric reaches out to take her hand.

“I’m human, love,” he says, in response, “And I don’t know if I should cheat death by joining you in the ocean.”

“But you’re _mine_ ,” she says, fierce as ever, and for a second, he sees the younger Ariel once again. But then he blinks, and the vision is gone, and there’s his wife again, her pout easy to see even with the fire in her eyes. Ariel always chased after what she wanted, and Eric never had the idea to ever deny her. But this? This is too important to just give in.

“What about our people?” he asks, instead of repeating what he said earlier. “How would they survive losing both of us at once?”

Ariel’s pout grows, and she turns the full force of it onto him, “I told you, Melody can handle it. I promise, our little girl will be the best Queen.”

He can’t really argue with her, not when he’s had the same thoughts himself. So he sighs, and holds tighter onto his wife’s hand.

It’s true, that he still doesn’t think it’s right for him to live on past his lifetime. He was born a human, and the only thing he ended up doing different was his love for Ariel. That shouldn’t mean he gets to live longer, especially since falling in love with Ariel is probably the easiest thing he’s ever done for his life.

It didn’t take much, after all, to realize that Ariel’s fire and spirit were something to be treasured. To find out she was a mermaid had changed nothing, especially when she had come to be on land with him.

But Ariel had given up so much for him. Shouldn’t it be easy for him to ignore his instincts? To just say yes so he can have so many more years with his beautiful wife?

His decision is cemented when he raises a hand to his wife’s cheek. Her eyes are bright with unshed tears, and it only reassures him that he’s made the right decision. Because if he goes, no _when_ he goes, Ariel won’t cry, and that’s really all that matters to him.

* * *

“Of course I knew,” says Melody when Eric catches her alone. She’s standing in front of the mirror, dithering over which decoration – two seashells of the same exact color – to weave into her hair before she joined him in the throne room.

When she turns, and catches sight of his expression, her expression softens. “Come on, Dad,” she says, “Aunt Attina mentioned it like five years ago when we went to visit for her coronation. Weren’t you listening?”

He had assumed Attina’s words to be a joke, not that he’ll actually end up underwater as one of her council members. Ariel had laughed at her sister’s words, and former King Triton had nearly toppled Sebastian when he had slammed his fist down onto the table in his raucous laughter. Eric hadn’t assumed it to be the truth.

Apparently, he had been the only one.

“You’ll be Queen,” he says, numbly, and Melody looks at him as if he’s being particularly dumb.

“I know,” she says, “I’ve only been preparing for it since I’ve been born. I’ll be fine, Dad. It’s a _little_ unfair, because I’ll much rather be out there in the ocean with you and Mom, but I’ll live. You taught me that,” she pauses, aiming a smile at her father before continuing, “The people come first, and I promise to take care of them.”

His heart swells at the idea of his little girl as Queen, and he reaches out to bring Melody into a tight hug. She hugs him back just as fiercely, and then pulls away to stand in front of the mirror again. “So now that that’s settled,” she says cheerfully, “Which one looks better?”

He resists the urge to remind her that they’re the exact same color, and just like always, simply says, “The left one.”

She smiles, weaves it into her long, beautiful locks the same color as his, and then loops her arm into his. “Now, let’s go get this meeting over with.”

* * *

Eric won’t live long enough as a human to see his little girl’s coronation.

It doesn’t matter though. Because he’ll be able to see it as a merman with Ariel by his side. Melody understands, and that’s all that really matters.

The sun is setting by the time Ariel and Eric make it out to the ocean. The sun’s rays reflect off the surface of the ocean, and his heart clenches at the nostalgia it evokes. Their love – their life had started on a setting just like this, and Eric thinks it’s fitting that it ends just the same.

Even though it’s not an end; it’s a beginning.

Ariel steps out of her expensive shoes, leaving it on the sand. Eric doesn’t do the same, and instead wades out after his wife, the two of them still holding hands all the while. When the ocean comes up to their hips, Ariel turns to face him, a small smile on her face.

“Ready?” she asks, and Eric nods, not trusting himself to speak.

Ariel’s voice is as hauntingly beautiful as ever. The sound of it seems to fill his very soul, and the sight of Ariel’s glowing eyes seems to encompass his vision. He can’t tear his eyes away.

Slowly, Ariel brings her hands up to both of his cheeks, her mouth still moving as she continues singing. It comes to an abrupt close when Ariel tiptoes upward and presses her lips to his.

He can still hear the song when he starts to transform, his legs replaced by a tail and his heart full of nothing but his love for his mermaid wife.

 


End file.
